


A Deep Betrayal

by KarsKars



Series: Keith's A Half-Breed - Team POV's [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra reveal, POV Allura (Voltron), Post-Episode: s02e08 The Blade of Marmora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-04 18:59:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18349745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarsKars/pseuds/KarsKars
Summary: Keith's Galra heritage reveal from Allura's POVCan be read as a stand alone piece or as part of the series. Each piece of the series contains bits the others don't.





	1. Discovery

_What the quiznak is a Space Cheese Blitz?_ Allura thought to herself as Hunk drooled over his thoughts.

“Ughhh now I’m hungry for breakfast” Lance whined in response.

“Guys, this is a serious mission. We need to focus.” Keith was always the serious one. She looked over at the two boys - _boys_ \- the thought sinking in as Lance repeated Keith’s words in a mocking tone. They are after all just children. Some times she forgot that.

“No no no, its TWO black holes, and a giant blue star” Coran sounded calm but she knew him well enough to know he was at least a little nervous. He too recognized that the paladins were young and she respected how hard he tried to keep a lighthearted atmosphere on board the castle; to help ease the stress of war.

Looking at the screens she watched as they slowly approached the dangerous objects. Who would put a base here? It would put their own members at risk each time they tried to return. _Galra!_ That’s exactly who would do something like this! The Galra didn’t care about anyone or anything, not even their own team members and allies. The very idea of striking an alliance with them had her stomach turning.

“Now I’m hungry for lunch!” Lance was still whining about the imaginary food Hunk was describing.

“GUYS QUIET!!” Keith yelled as he stood up “Coran, where’s the base located?” His propensity for aggressive out bursts was always jarring. He could go from calm and quiet to pissed off and yelling in the blink of an eye. It was alarming to the typically controlled princess.

“In between those three deadly celestial objects.” Coran’s words confirmed her fears. This was not safe, something was wrong. The Blade of Marmora was exclusively Galra after all, and the Galra were NOT to be trusted.

“The perfect defensive position.” Pidge’s words proved these young paladins did not know the Galra like she did. They were so naive and eager to make an ally that they looked past the very real possibility that this was in fact a trap.

“Or the perfect trap” she countered, slightly surprised when Hunk agreed.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! WE HAVE TO GO IN!! THS IS THE WHOLE REASON WE CAME OUT HERE!! THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION!!” Once again the shift from Allura, Hunk, Coran, and Pidge’s calm voices to Keith’s aggressive yelling was startling.

“Ok, Ok, Geez calm down.” Lance’s words did nothing to calm the red paladin; he only narrowed his eyes then turned to face the screen as the Blade’s message appeared in front of them.

_"Two may enter. Come unarmed."_

“Why would they insist we come unarmed? Shiro, this doesn’t feel right.” Every nerve in her body was tingling. Something bad was going to happen; she could feel it.

* * *

They watched was the red lion left the hangar and headed straight for the danger in front of them; keeping the com links open until they lost their connection. The silence was eerie with no way to contact the red and black paladins. They all stared at the screens for what seemed like vargas even though everyone knew there was nothing they could do. The ticks went by and still they waited.

* * *

“THE RED LION HAS STARTED ATTACKING!” Coran’s voice was laced with fear and concern.

“Wait what does that mean? Why would the red lion attack unless … “

“Allura?” Lance had cut Hunk off but she wasn’t going to answer either of them. The red and black paladins were in danger. HER paladins! These quiznaking Galra were doing something that had put her paladins in enough danger to trigger the defenses of the red lion. _I KNEW IT!!_ She thought to herself, _I knew they couldn’t be trusted!!_ She narrowed her gaze, focused on her next move; if they were going to hurt her Paladins then she was going to hurt them!

“Every one stay focused.” Her words carried the calm demeanor of a leader, poised and ready to strike. “Coran, how much longer until we can get in?”

“Just a few more ticks Princess.”

“Get ready.” And she was. She was 1000% ready, as soon as it was clear she was going to unleash hell on these Galra.

“5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …”

“Princess, We’re coming back! And we’re bringing someone you should meet!” Shiro’s voice rang through the room as he cut off Coran’s countdown. The relief they all felt was beautiful. Even in this short amount of time, she had come to see these strange aliens as family. Their customs were strange, and their appearance was strange, but she cared for them deeply.

Shiro was a strong and capable leader, like she remembered her father being. He was a voice of reason, a guiding light; she knew she could trust his level head and her worry for him had twisted her stomach into knots. While Keith had always been her least favourite, due mostly to his aggressive personality, she in no way wanted to see any harm come to him and equally worried for his safety.

Relief washed over them all as Coran’s words dissipated the tension “They’re all right!”

* * *

The mouth of the red lion opened and a large Galra stepped out. He approached Allura without hesitation and bent to one knee, removing his mask in the process. She put on her best ‘diplomat’ face and prepared to greet their new ally. Their Galra ally - this was not going to be easy to get used to.

“Princess Allura, It’s good to see that the rumours are true; you’re still alive after all these years.” His words were quiet, calm, and respectful; not at all what she had expected from a Galra. It caught her off guard and she felt her mask fall away. The response coming out colder than she had intended, but then again, she had no warmth for the race that murdered her family and destroyed her home!

“So is Zarkon. Can we consider you our ally in our fight against him?”

“Yes.” Replied the large Galra leader, rising to stand as he spoke. “But we have little time to discuss this, I just received word from our spy inside the Galran hierarchy, they have become aware of our presence so the time table for our plan has just been moved up.”

“How soon do we need to begin?” Shiro addressed the Galra as if he was an equal.

“Now.”

“Than we can waste no time. Follow me to the control room so we can work out the terms of our alliance.” She heard her the words coming out of her mouth as if they were foreign. _An alliance. With the Galra!_ The very concept seemed unfathomable.

“You’re bleeding! Keith, are you ok? What happed in there??” Lance’s words pulled her from her thoughts. Looking over she saw the frame of her red paladin as he slowly started to collapse under his own body weight, leaning on the red lion for support. Blood was pooling on the ground below his right arm as sweat dripped down his forehead and the back of his neck.

A sudden rage bloomed inside her. _I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!!_ She had KNOWN something terrible was going to happen. As soon as the red lion started attacking it had solidified her fear, and now here was Keith slumped over in exhaustion and slowly bleeding to death. His miserable state confirming that something had indeed happened. What weren’t they telling her? Were they trying to protect the Galra standing in front of her in an attempt to preserve this feeble alliance?? _You can never trust a Galra_! The words raced around her mind like a mantra. Chanting them over and over as she took in the sight of her deteriorating red paladin.

Keith responded rather aggressively that he was fine while Shiro stepped in to direct Coran to the medbay but the stubborn red paladin protested. That’s when it happened. The words that came from the Galra leader were nothing that she had expected, not in a million decephebes.

“Nonsense, the trials require adequate recovery, especially for a half-breed” the Blade leader chastised him. Immediately her eyes shot to Keith’s looking for something, some sort of denial, but all she saw was pure confirmation. The look of utter shock and horror his face proved every word. He was one of them.

 _How was this possible???_ How could he be one of them? He had arrived with the other Humans, from their planet of Earth. How was this possible?

Lance seemed to be on the same page as he spoke the words right out of her mind. “Ok woah woah woah, hold your horses! Can someone please explain what the quiznak just happened??”

“Yes! Explain this immediately!” Allura demanded. She needed to know. The half-breed was slowly loosing the last bit of control he had, sliding further down Red’s paw. She didn’t care, she needed answers and she needed them NOW.

Shiro took charge, sending the half-breed with Coran to the medway, the Galra leader back to his base, and the rest of them to the lounge. The group dispersed but Allura stayed behind, she watched the retreating form of the large Galra as he made his way to the edge of the hangar to board the pod that was waiting for him. She watched as Coran, her only connection to her home and father, practically carried that disgusting half-breed to the medbay to heal its injuries. The fury was building inside her.

Allura didn’t even realize she was moving until she was standing directly over the pool of blood, alone in the red lion’s hangar.

“How could you choose him?” Staring down into the crimson between her feet, she felt a tear fall down her cheek. “After everything that happened with Zarkon and Black, how could you choose one of THEM?” She practically spat out her final word, the anger rising steadily. The red lion shifted its paw as it adjusted to sit up, smearing the pool of blood in the process.

Her hand touched the lion before she even registered that she had moved it. The lion’s eyes lighting up in response. ‘Perhaps it understood my words, perhaps it will accept me as its paladin and we can be rid of that retched lying Galra’ the thoughts sparked new hope.

As if the lion could feel her intentions, it lowered its mighty head and growled menacingly at Allura. She jumped back, this had been her father’s lion and that quiznaking Galra half-breed had turned it against her. Just like Zarkon had done with Black. Her own father’s lion now belonged to a Galra, the betrayals were just piling up.


	2. Loyalty Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “KEITH!!!” Lance’s voice pulled her attention, “ _That Galra_ is KEITH!” He spit her words back at her like they were poison and the venom in his voice hurt. He was always so loyal and for him to turn on her … _OH_. He was being loyal – just not to her. That realization hurt more than his tone. Of course he would choose Keith over her.

She slowly made her way down the halls of the castle, feeling her head pounding in sync with the fall of her feet. Allura’s mind was racing through the events in the hangar, still unsure how to process it all.

It wouldn’t take long for Coran to get one of their healing pods setup and just the thought of a GALRA recovering in one of their pods made her stomach clench. How could she have been so stupid! How could she not see what was right in front of her eyes. But more importantly – how could she lose Voltron like this. The red lion was choosing to remain loyal to her paladin, her GALRA paladin. Just like the black lion had before, only this time it would not be possible to replace him. She knew the lion’s personalities, she knew based on Red’s reaction that no one else would be allowed to pilot her. Red was stubborn and difficult – much like her troublesome ~~paladin~~ PILOT! That Galra half-breed was no paladin, he was simply the pilot of the red lion, and if Allura had anything to say about it he wouldn’t even be that for much longer.

The doors to lounge opened to everyone sitting on the couch waiting for her. Her eyes immediately fell to Coran, his cautious smile was just a front for the confusion she knew he felt underneath. As she took in his face she noticed the stains of red – dark red on his crisp Altean clothing. “Coran! Clean that Galra’s blood off your clothing.” The sight of it reminded her that the Galra took over everything they touched. They had taken over most of the universe, they were STILL taking over Voltron, and now they were taking over the last bits of Altea that had been saved in the castle.

“KEITH!!!” Lance’s voice pulled her attention, “ _That Galra_ is KEITH!” He spit her words back at her like they were poison and the venom in his voice hurt. He was always so loyal and for him to turn on her … _OH._ He was being loyal – just not to her. That realization hurt more than his tone. Of course he would choose Keith over her.

Shiro told her to sit – NO. This was her castle and she would not have some human telling her what to do. There were far too many aliens on her ship for her liking. She didn’t have a problem with them before, but it was getting to be too much, she was outnumbered and now they were ganging up on her.

“Do not tell me what to do on my own ship. I will stand thank you very much.”

“Suit yourself.” Taking a deep breath and a moment to center himself, Shiro began his story. “When we arrived at the base we were brought in to face Kolivan. Keith had brought his dagger with him and …”

Pidge interrupted, Shiro chastised, but Allura wasn’t fully paying attention. She was partially listening to Shiro but mostly she was still lost in her thoughts.

“Meaning I’m part Galra.” Everyone jumped at his voice, but she had heard him come in. The hiss of the door and the thud of his body as it leaned against the frame gave her the warning that he was there. She didn’t want to look at him so she just kept her eyes on the floor, where they had been the whole time.

Coran went to check on him, and the soon-to-be former red paladin took off. _Good!_ She thought to herself.

“Maybe he just needs some time to think?”

“Keith should not be alone” Shiro answered Hunk very bluntly, but he was still kind. “He’s spent far too much of his life alone, he needs our support. He needs us to show him that we still care, that he’s still welcome here”

“I’m not so sure he is.” She knew her words would upset them, they clearly still saw him as human and they didn’t know the Galra like she did. They hadn’t suffered like she had, not yet at least. It would be coming though, the Galra would make their way to Earth and then they would understand her feelings, her loss. She didn’t want one of them on her team, or in her castle.

"EXCUSE ME??" Pidge was jumping up to meet her eyes, "Keith is a part of this team! He is one of us and the ONLY one who can fly the red lion! He has been with us for every fight, every training session, every STUPID Altean mind melding exercise; he has saved all of our asses and shown you nothing but loyalty. HOW DARE YOU TREAT HIM LIKE SOME SORT OF MONSTER!!!"

Allura knew exactly what she wanted to say back, ‘ _But he IS a monster. He is one of them and they are all monsters. Monsters that take, take, take. Monsters that destroy and kill. Monsters that disguise themselves as innocent to hide amongst other aliens and build your trust before they take what little you have left.’_

But she knew she couldn’t say this; voicing it would only cause more problems. These humans were starting to turn on her. They were loyal to their friend, they still saw him as one of them and even though this was her ship, her lions, they saw Allura as the alien.

Words failed her; she huffed angrily at the green paladin before leaving the room. If she stayed she knew the others would turn on her too. He was taking over Voltron, turning the paladins to his side; he was managing to do what Zarkon couldn’t.

This one was sneaky; he was going to be hard to get rid of. But she had made up her mind – he had to go.


	3. Pain and Logic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few dobashes she heard the return of footsteps, Lance’s smell, a faint chuckle followed by a gasp, and then suddenly a gentle hand was on her shoulder.
> 
> “Allura?” His voice was soft and kind, filled with genuine concern and in that moment all she wanted was to be held. She wanted to be held tightly and told that everything was ok, that she wasn’t wrong for feeling the way she did. And with that, Allura lost all control; she threw herself over the shoulder of the young alien boy, breathing in his sweet scent. 
> 
> Immediately she knew this was a bad idea. This boy in particular had always been so forward with her, openly showing his affections and desires, and now she was throwing herself on him. This was highly inappropriate behaviour for a princess.

The door to the lounged closed behind her, but Allura didn’t know where to go from here. Standing in the empty hall she realized she didn’t want to be alone, not really, but she also didn’t want to be in that room with the paladins. She wanted her father. He would have known how to handle this, what to do, what to say, how to proceed. A tear fell down her cheek as he thought of Sendak and how he had corrupted her father’s memories resulting in their destruction. He was already dead and the Galra just kept taking him away from her.

As Allura leaned against the wall she heard the faint hiss of the lounge door opening. She didn’t turn to see who it was, but the soft smell of a fruity shampoo and coconut lotion drifted her way; it was Lance. She heard his feet take off down the opposite hall and her heart sank as she realized he was looking to comfort Keith, not her.

After a few dobashes she heard the return of footsteps, Lance’s smell, a faint chuckle followed by a gasp, and then suddenly a gentle hand was on her shoulder.

“Allura?” His voice was soft and kind, filled with genuine concern and in that moment all she wanted was to be held. She wanted to be held tightly and told that everything was ok, that she wasn’t wrong for feeling the way she did. And with that, Allura lost all control; she threw herself over the shoulder of the young alien boy, breathing in his sweet scent.

Immediately she knew this was a bad idea. This boy in particular had always been so forward with her, openly showing his affections and desires, and now she was throwing herself on him. This was highly inappropriate behaviour for a princess.

She pushed back and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m so sorry Lance.”

“Allura, are you ok?” Those soft words and kind eyes landed gently on her and she smiled.

“I am.” He was so open and easy to talk to that she didn’t even realize she was spilling her deepest fears to him. Before she could stop herself, all of the anger and the pain that she had held inside started flowing. He didn’t say a word, only listened as she let him into the deepest parts of herself, revealing exactly what was so _wrong_ with the red paladin situation. “They took everything from me. My father, my home, my people, my planet. Everything Lance. I trusted him, I trusted him with one of the lions my father built. With the red lion; the lion my father flew.”

She paused to shake the tears away; they had threatened to break free again. Lance put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she broke, the rest of her fears spilling out. “I’ve lost everything, everyone I ever cared about. They took them away from me and now I find out one of them was hiding under my nose this whole time? Those sneaky Galra, I should have known, I should have been able to see it. The aggressive personality, the hotheadedness, the distance he kept from everyone else.”

Her pain was shifting, becoming more tangible, turning into something she could focus - anger. As the words came out she could feel the fire in her gut, the acid on her tongue, and the venom in her voice. “He knew. I know he knew. When we were trying to figure out how Zarkon was tracking us he knew then already and lied. He LIED right to our faces, making up some story about imprinting. That lying Galra knew and he looked us in the eyes everyday, talking about how we were going to take out Zarkon, talking about ending the war. All that time he knew! We can’t trust him Lance, we can’t ever trust a GALRA!”

This felt right, she was right. She knew she was right and she knew Lance was seeing it. The look in his eyes betrayed him as he considered her observations. But in the end he sided with his friend again and it hurt more than it did the first time. “He couldn’t have known.”

How could he be in denial, she had just told him the facts and they were unmistakable.

“Keith doesn’t trust anyone, not really. Except Shiro, and he clearly didn’t tell him. If Shiro didn’t know then Keith didn’t know.” This too made sense. The red paladin was extremely closed off to everyone except the black paladin. Lance’s thought process was just as valid as her own; perhaps they were each blinded by their biases? Lance with loyalty to his friend, and Allura with pain and loss at the hands of the Galra.

“Allura, he may have suspected something but I’m positive he didn’t know for sure. He would have told us.” Allura’s mind flashed to the red lion’s hangar, to the look in Keith’s eyes when Kolivan spoke. He had not wanted to tell them, he had definitely wanted to keep it a secret.

“Do you think so Lance?” She heard herself speak, “Do you really think he would have told us? Did you not see the look of horror on his face when Kolivan let it slip? No, I don’t believe he would have said a thing.” The words were out before she even realized she had thought them out loud.

She couldn’t do this, she couldn’t have this conversation with Lance, the blue paladin was too close to the half-breed and would defend him to the end. Allura needed to get away, she needed to go somewhere to be alone so she could think and clear her mind.

 _Please father, I need your help and guidance._ She thought to herself as she walked down the halls. She didn’t have a destination in mind but she could feel herself being drawn in a particular direction and gave in; letting the unknown force take her.

* * *

Allura found herself standing before the large intricate doors, pushing them open and entering the sweet memories of home. The fresh breeze, bright warm sun light, and floral scent of the Juniberries helped to wash the pain from her mind. She sat in the grass and caressed the delicate flowers.

“Oh father, how I miss you. I miss Altea and I miss you!” The tears had started again and she didn’t care to stop them. She let them flow as she reveled in the memories of home.

Allura let her mind wander, pulling up memories of her home from before the war, before the Galra had destroyed everything. The warmness was taking over her, driving out the hurt and replacing it with a deep longing.

It wasn’t until he sat down beside her that she realized someone had entered the room. The plan was to be alone, but she didn’t really want that, she wanted comfort and she knew the black paladin would side with his brother but he was also the most reasonable.

Shiro had always tried to see both sides of a situation, forever the diplomat like she was. Striving to be unbiased and fair – traits she greatly respected. If it had been any of the other paladins she would have sent them away, but not Shiro.

Allura noticed him looking at the flowers, “Altean Juniberries.” Her voice sounded so distant even to her. He smiled at her and picked one, inhaling deeply to take in the scent. She caught the look in his eyes, the same longing for home that she felt, but he didn’t say anything. Instead they sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the comfort of not being alone.

After quite some time Shiro placed his hand on hers, clearly being careful not to use his cybernetic Galran hand. “Allura …”

“Don’t” She knew this was coming; he had sought her out to talk about Keith. “Just don’t Shiro. I know why you’re here and I can’t give you the reassurance you are looking for. Please, just leave me alone.”

“Allura, hear me out. I understand how you feel … “

“You do?” Her words came out harder than she intended, they left a sour taste in her mouth but she wasn’t going to take them back. Yes Shiro had been through hell with the Galra, but he had not felt the loss that she had. “You know how I feel? Tell me Shiro, when did you lose your family? Your home? Your people and your culture? No, you have no IDEA how I feel. The Galra took everything from me and he is one of them. How can I ever trust him when I can’t even bare to look at him.” It was all she could do to hold back the onslaught of fresh tears. Her anger and pain mixing until they became impossible to separate.

“Keith, didn’t do any of those things, he is an innocent kid. You are attributing all of your pain and loss onto him and that is not fair.”

“He may not be purple, but when I look at him all I see is Galra. The Galra who destroyed everything I loved.” Her breathing was becoming more frantic. “He is not welcome in my castle or the red lion … my FATHER’S lion.” She nearly spat the words at Shiro and he visibly winced.

She saw the reaction take over him, the thoughts glaze across his eyes. She knew he understood where she was coming from, but she also knew he would stand in Keith’s corner no matter what – he always did.

“The red lion once trusted King Alfor as her pilot. She trusted him as her paladin and as the right arm of Voltron. As you have said yourself, the lions choose their paladins; it is a bond that cannot be forced. I have felt it with Black, and now Red feels it with Keith. She trusts him like she trusted your father.”

His words hit home, either the lion’s judgments were wrong or she was. He paused before continuing, “And I trust her judgment. I have known Keith since he was 10 years old. He is a good kid, sometimes a little difficult to deal with and hotheaded, but he has a good soul. He wants to help, he wants to bring peace and end the war. Right now our red paladin is hiding in his lion, terrified that the ONLY family he has will reject him like everyone in his life always has.”

She didn’t know what to saw to that so she chose to say nothing. But it didn’t matter because he just pressed on.

“We all have family back on Earth waiting for us: Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and myself. But Keith has no one. After his father died he was alone, being bounced around from foster home to foster home. He is inside Red, trying to protect himself from the pain of being rejected by yet another family.”

 _Family._ She had slowly started to consider these aliens a sort of ‘found family’ that would not, could not, replace the one she had lost – but could definitely help to fill the hole left in her heart. As she saw each of their faces in her mind, it froze on Keith’s; slowly morphing into more Galra features until she only saw Zarkon. He had been like a brother to her father before betraying and killing him.

“He is NOT my family.” She wouldn’t allow herself to meet the same fate.

“If that is truly how you feel then there is nothing more I can say.” He stood to leave, but turned back and spoke again; his voice was not as kind this time. “Allura, you don’t need to love him, or even care – but you do need to let him stay. He has nowhere else to go and we NEED him. Red is stubborn, almost as stubborn as Keith is; she will not give up her paladin so easily. Keith is the paladin of the red lion – the ONLY paladin of the red lion. If you can’t find it in your heart to allow him to stay, at least find it in your brain. We are in a war Princess, a war that needs Voltron, and Voltron needs Keith whether you like it or not.”

He was right. She had already tried to reason with Red but it was no use; the lion was not giving up her paladin. Shiro’s reliable sensibility and logic pulled Allura out of her spiral. Setting her emotions aside she knew he was right – she had to put the universe before herself. Being able to form Voltron was more important and if that Galra half-breed was the only acceptable candidate for Red, then he was going to have to stay. _Quiznak._

“Fine.” She huffed out her answer. “Keith can stay. He can stay, but he is not welcome.”

 


	4. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walking the dark halls towards the red lion’s hangar, she felt a sense of dread take hold. She didn’t want to do this, she didn’t want to see him or talk to him, but she knew it was necessary. After all, he was the only one Red would accept so he needed to stay, and Voltron was formed with trust so they needed to fix this. But it didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t wanted anything less in her entire life.

Allura sat in the simulated garden meadow for a long time after Shiro had left. She thought about leaving a few times, but didn’t want to risk running into anyone in the halls. During that time she had completely shattered, letting out all of her pain and anger. The tear trails on her cheeks had since been blown dry by the light breeze, but her red puffy eyes remained. Over head, the simulated day had begun to shift. It was now dark in the meadow, lit only by the intricately rendered Altean night sky.

She lay back in the soft grass and watched the lights twinkle; naming each of the constellations she had grown up learning from her father. Her eyes landed on the constellation ‘Alfor’. He had been a great king of ancient times and a distant relative for which her father had been named. The tip of Alfor’s crown held a galaxy that shown with a faint reddish light; a beautiful contrast to the yellow and white stars. This had always given the illusion of a shining jewel in the cosmic crown. She felt her eyes well with tears that had long since been cried out, feeling the familiar sting of salt as they refused to form. Her eyes burned and she closed them tightly, this just wasn’t fair, she knew this was the closest she would ever come to seeing this view again. With Altea having been completely destroyed, she could never again lay in a field of juniberries and gaze up at a familiar sky.

Everything felt alien to her now, even the castle was starting to lose its feeling of home. The humans had started to make themselves comfortable in her castle, not that she blamed them, in fact she had encouraged them to do so. But the changes reminded her that, while there were 6 other people living there, only Coran was a fellow Altean. She felt so lonely, she had tried to connect to the paladins; tried to share in each other’s cultures, but it hard. It was always harder to connect from the outside and as a completely different species, she was as outside as you can get.

 _Is this why Keith always has a hard time connecting with the other paladins?_ It would make sense really; since he was only partly human it would be reasonable that his Galran heritage could make it more difficult for him to connect to the others. It would explain why Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro all seemed to innately understand one another while Keith, Coran, and herself never really ‘got it’. Coran and Allura understood each other like that, they could reference things and use slang the other would understand but then need to explain it to the paladins. It seemed the only one who was left out completely was Keith. He wasn’t able to truly connect with anyone, not really. _That must make him so lonely_. The realization landed like a ton of bricks in her gut. She felt her heart ache for the boy - he was after all still so young, especially now that she knew he was part Galra. That would make him younger than even Pidge! _NO!_ She was not going to feel sorry for him. He was Galra and he didn’t deserve her sympathy. But try as she might, the words that Pidge, Lance, and Shiro had said resonated in her mind.

 _“Keith doesn’t trust anyone, not really. Except Shiro …”_  
_“… He has saved all of our asses and shown you nothing but loyalty.”_  
_“After his father died he was alone, being bounced around from foster home to foster home. He is inside Red, trying to protect himself from the pain of being rejected by yet another family.”_

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. She needed to talk to Keith.

* * *

Walking the dark halls towards the red lion’s hangar, she felt a sense of dread take hold. She didn’t want to do this, she didn’t want to see him or talk to him, but she knew it was necessary. After all, he was the only one Red would accept so he needed to stay, and Voltron was formed with trust so they needed to fix this. But it didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t wanted anything less in her entire life.

The red lion’s hangar was empty and the lion was sitting still with dark eyes. Allura approached laying her hand on the giant paw. “K-Keith?” She managed to stutter out, but there was no reply. “Are you in here? I’d like to have a word with you.” Still nothing.

Turning her gaze up, she met Red’s eyes, “is he here?” she asked the lion. Though she wasn’t a paladin and therefore didn’t have the same connection they did, the lions were tied to her life force. _Sleeping._ The words from the lion were rough and made her brain feel as though it was being licked by flames while they held the connection. “Can we trust him? Can we REALLY trust him?” this time Red didn’t provide words, but more a feeling.

She felt the passion in Keith, rising from the depths inside him and bursting through his chest as he fought along side the other paladins. Fire blazed inside her, consuming her with its raw power and emotion as she felt the deep bond between lion and paladin. She felt the cool water, fresh greens, musky earth, and calming space as they joined his fire to form Voltron. The spark that ignited in each of the other lions as he connected to them. The rush of adrenaline that spurred him on and pushed Votron to keep fighting even when the others had lost their individual will to fight.

The fire slowly faded as Red pulled back. She felt hallow, that intensity had awoken something in her, something that desperately wanted to surface and with out that fire, Keith’s fire - she felt cold.

She had felt her father’s connection to the red lion before, but it was not like this. The connection between Keith and Red was far stronger than she could have ever imagined. It strengthened Voltron from within, allowing the team to fight with his intensity, allowing them to push through and never give up.

“Thank you.” She whispered to the lion as she felt the connection break. She was not ready to forgive the Galra, not ready to fully accept Keith, but at least she knew that he could be trusted. Voltron was safe.

 


	5. Alliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She stared at him for a moment, wondering how the Blade of Marmora was processing the discovery of a Voltron Paladin being part Galra. “I do not wish for anyone to learn of the red paladin's mixed heritage.” Her words were curt but she meant them. The universe knowing Voltron had a Galra paladin would not be beneficial. In fact she was certain that it would outright prevent the possibility of an alliance with certain species if they knew.
> 
> “Of course, Princess.” Kolivan showed no emotion in his voice and with his face still hidden behind the mask she was unsure of how he had taken her request – but she didn’t care.

She ran down the halls of the castle. The scene she had just witnessed played over again in her mind. A younger version of Keith, maybe 15 at most, bringing breakfast to Shiro and his partner. His feeble words ‘it’s been 1 year today that you let me stay here. I love you guys … and I – uh – I just wanted to say thanks.’ followed by the tear that fell down Shiro’s face as he watched his memory play, whispering ‘I needed that’. Allura couldn’t help it, the gentleness and vulnerability of it all brought fresh tears to her eyes. She thought her tears had been spent last night, but apparently she was wrong.   
  
The sound of Shiro’s boots faded behind her, she was faster than him but it sounded like he had stopped completely. A few more corners and she was back at her own room, dashing in the door and locking it behind her. It took a few dobashes but she heard the distinct zap of the door pad as Shiro tried and failed to open it. Instead of leaving he tapped lightly on the door, waiting for her to let him in.   
  
“Please Shiro, just leave me be. I do not wish to speak with you again.” Her voice was soft; she wasn’t upset with him anymore. He had been right after all, and she couldn’t get his sad memories out of her mind.  
  
“Princess? Shiro is not here, please let me in.” Instead of the young human, she heard her father’s old friend. Immediately she rose from her bed and opened the door, letting the man enter.  
  
“Allura, are you alright? How much did you see? Those memories were private, you really shouldn’t have been watching.” His concern for her was comforting. He didn’t sound upset or annoyed, just simply making a statement.  
  
“I know. I didn’t process what I was seeing at first, but by the time I realized … it was too late to make my presence known.” She hung her head but had to ask one last thing, “I saw the fight. Shiro’s memory of the boys fighting. What that other boy said … it was cruel but it didn’t warrant the intensity of his reaction. His eyes - Coran did you see them? It makes me wonder just how much Galra is in him.”  
  
Coran took a moment to breathe, slowly exhaling. “Allura, if one of the Paladins were to say those things to you about Alfor, how would you react? When I was sifting through Shiro’s memories I saw things that I didn’t show him. Things that weren’t going to help him with his pain, but showed me more about Keith then I thought possible. The boy has suffered great losses and felt deep pain and betrayal. I understand why he is the way he is.”  
  
“Yes, because he’s Galra Coran. Shiro told me about his family situation, or lack of, but perhaps he would have been treated better if he didn’t act so much like a Galra.”  
  
“I’m sure part of his temperament is due to his Galra heritage, but it’s also due in large part to the pain he has suffered.” Coran placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before looking deep into her eyes. “Allura, neither of us is the same person we were before Zarkon destroyed Altea. The loss of Alfor, our home, and our people has changed both of us. It has filled your heart with so much hatred for the Galra that you struggle to show empathy for a young boy simply because of his heritage. This is not like you, this is not who Alfor raised you to be.”

His words stung, they hit a nerve deep within her soul. He was right; her father had always taught her to be forgiving and to try to understand other’s emotions. It was part of why people loved him so much and why he was such an amazing king and leader. Allura wanted desperately to be like her father, the great and kind Alfor, but she was failing.

She clung to him, her most trusted friend. “Coran I – I can’t – you’re right! You’re right and I know you are but I just can’t bring myself to …”

“Allura, he will understand how you feel. You don’t need to treat him like nothing has changed, because for you it has, but you can’t keep treating him this way. All of this anger and hate - it’s like a double edged sword and will take you both down with it.”

She nodded, his wise words clearing the fog of pain in a way that nothing else had. She saw the young boy's lonely eyes from Shiro’s memories and felt a pang of regret for how she had treated him. Shiro was right; he really did need them all now more than ever.

“If I can work with the Blade of Marmora, then I can work with Keith.” She said flatly. Releasing Coran from her tight hold, she turned to the door and smiled. “Let’s get some breakfast with our paladins.”

* * *

 

They walked into the lounge and saw that only Shiro and Pidge were there, a wave of relief washed over her. She hadn’t even realized she had been holding her breath until it released. Splashing on her brightest smile she greeted the paladins and took a seat with Coran.

Just as Allura was about to apologize for how she had acted that night, the door opened revealing Hunk and Keith. Her mind flashed to Shiro’s memory of Keith fighting the other boy, the trademark yellow slit Galra eyes shining back, and felt her smile fall. He took a seat beside Shiro and helped himself to some of the odd looking baked goods Hunk had made.

She watched him eat, clearly enjoying them as he consumed three in quick succession. She kept her eyes on him even as Pidge audibly rejected the taste.

"Ya they aren't my best work" Hunk chuckled

"I like it!" Keith shrugged with his mouth full of food. It was incredibly rude on Altea to speak with one’s mouth full, but she didn’t know if that was the case for Earth so she didn’t say anything. Her unapproving face betrayed her however as Keith looked up and immediately sank into himself.

She felt awful, she knew he would take it the wrong way but she couldn’t bring herself to correct him. There was a part of her that was still upset with the whole situation and wanted him to suffer for his transgression. _But his genetics are out of his control._ The rational part of her brain insisted, and it was right. The resigned look on his face was more than she wanted to deal with right now, she didn’t want to have to apologize to him. After all she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Turning to Coran she felt her words coming out as little more than a mumble. She was usually so articulate but now she had to prepare to meet with GALRA, while trying to find a way to accept that there was another Galra paladin. She didn’t have the reserve for this today.

“I need to prepare the control room for our meeting with the leaders of the Blade of Marmora. I’m not hungry but do come join me after your breakfast and bring Shiro.” She managed to get the words out before standing to leave. Allura took one last look over at Keith, who had slumped back on the couch and felt a deep loathing, followed by that dreaded pang of regret once again. She could feel it creep across her face and quickly turned to leave the room, not wanting to address these new and conflicting feelings.

* * *

 

Allura had been in the control room for approximately a varga before the alert came on the screen. A video chat had been requested by an approaching pod and she accepted the call to be greeted by two very large, masked figures filling her screen. The one in front, who had come last night with Keith and Shiro, spoke to her requesting permission to dock which she granted before promptly disconnecting the call and moving to the pod bay to greet their new allies.

The two Galra exited their pod, and a bowed to her as Kolivan had done before. “Princess, it is a pleasure to see you again. This is Antok, he is my right hand and a very capable member of our organization.” Antok bowed and gave a small greeting before Kolivan continued. “I understand you must have had a very trying night, however I hope it will not negatively affect our alliance with Voltron in any way.”

She stared at him for a moment, wondering how the Blade of Marmora was processing the discovery of a Voltron Paladin being part Galra. “I do not wish for anyone to learn of the red paladin's mixed heritage.” Her words were curt but she meant them. The universe knowing Voltron had a Galra paladin would not be beneficial. In fact she was certain that it would outright prevent the possibility of an alliance with certain species if they knew.

“Of course, Princess.” Kolivan showed no emotion in his voice and with his face still hidden behind the mask she was unsure of how he had taken her request – but she didn’t care.

They headed for the control room, stopping outside the doors of the lounge on their way. After hearing Coran and Shiro’s voices, she knew the entire team was still inside and decided to enter. This would break up the group breakfast but she wanted to finish their meeting and dismiss the Galra from her castle-ship as quickly as possible.

They opened the door to find her blue and red paladins rolling around in food goo, while the yellow and green paladins looked on with glee. Shiro and Coran seemed to be in shock but snapped out of it when their attention was drawn to Allura and the Blades. After some brief exchanges and directive action from Shiro the 5 adults were headed for the control room while the 4 younger paladins were instructed to join them in 2 vargas.

As they walked the hallway Coran turned to her and spoke, “Allura, I thought we had made progress this morning.”

“His actions prove he is a liability, he embarrassed us all with his childish behavior.”

“He’s still young, plus number 3 was the instigator and is more to blame than number 4.”

“I don’t care Coran; I don’t want to look at him.” And she didn’t. She was incredibly mad at that moment. They were trying to form an incredibly important alliance and she already tense about working with Galra, only for him to act like a child and embarrass her in front of them. She was fuming.

* * *

 

The meeting proceeded as expected, ideas being tossed around by everyone involved. Allura was becoming more and more annoyed however as anytime she had a suggestion that involved Keith in some way they were repeatedly shot down by Kolivan. She was becoming more and clipped in her interactions with him, and turned a glaring eye to Shiro when he chuckled. He had seemed lost in his own thoughts but his timing could not have been worse.

After the paladins joined them she found herself standing beside Keith, why he would chose to stand directly beside her, she didn’t know. Perhaps it was a power move, or an olive branch? It didn’t matter, she was done being nice to the Galra on her ship – and that included the paladin.

After a long and intense meeting they had finally hashed out a plan.


End file.
